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   JazakAllah Khair for continuing to motivate and remind the students here Sister Hope.

I left the other Ayahs so other sisters could add their comments or explanation. Perhaps the other sisters are busy these days. So I shall add more to keep the lesson going...

Anyway: (Continued)

One can also say that Ayat-ul-Kursi can be used as a "litmus test" for anyone who claims another "god" apart from Allah. The verses show us the essential attributes that a "God" should have. So if for example, somebody claims that a Prophet or man can be a God (nauzubillah) - they should look at these verses and compare. So we can form a "criteria" for a God on the base of this verse.

Criteria for a God:

1. Should be " Ever 
                Living" ,  " One Who sustains and protects all that exists"
2. Neither 
                slumber nor sleep should overtakes Him
3. To Him should belong whatever is in 
                the heavens and whatever is on the earth
4. He should know what happens to them 
                (His creatures) in this world, and what will happen to them in 
                the Hereafter. (i.e. He should have complete knowledge of everything)
5.  He should feel no fatigue in guarding and preserving 
                them. 
6.  He should be the Most High, the Most Great (i.e. nothing or noone should be/can be better than Him.

If that so-called "god" cannot fulfill the above criteria, how can he/she/it be considered a God? (Referring to all the other gods that people claim are Divine and worship them e.g. Jesus, Statues, Animals, Sun/Moon, etc)

Other points that we come across in Tafsir of Ibn Kathir:

1. Neither slumber nor sleep overtakes Him: 

            means, no shortcoming, unawareness or ignorance ever touches Allah. 
              Rather, He is aware of, and controls what every soul earns, has 
              perfect watch over everything, nothing escapes His knowledge, and 
              no secret matter is secret to Him. Among His perfect attributes, 
              is the fact that He is never effected by slumber or sleep. 
Hadith on same subject:
The Messenger of Allah  delivered a speech regarding 
                four words:

                "Allah does not sleep, and it does not befit His majesty that 
                He sleeps. He lowers the scales and raises them. The deeds of 
                the day are resurrected in front of Him before the deeds before 
                the deeds of the night, and the deeds of the night before the 
                deeds of day. His Veil is light, or fire, and if He removes it, 
                the rays from His Face would burn whatever His sight reaches of 
                His creation." Sahih Muslim 1:161
2. To him belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is 
                on the earth:
indicated that everyone is a servant for Allah, a part of his kingdom 
              and under His power and authority. 
Other verses in Holy Qur'an that say the same thing:
Surah Maryam Ayah's 93-95:
There is none in the heavens and the earth but comes unto 
                the Most Gracious (Allah) as a servant. 
                Verily, He knows each one of them, and has counted them a full 
                counting. 
                And everyone of them will come to Him alone on the Day of Resurrection 
                (without any Helper, or protector or defender).

3. Who is he that can intercede with Him except with His permission?
these Ayat assert Allah's Greatness, Pride, and Grace, and that 
              no one dares to intercede with Him on behalf of anyone else, except 
              by His permission. Indeed, the Hadith about the intercession, states 
              that the Prophet  
              said:
"I will stand under the Throne and fall in prostration, and 
                Allah will allow me to remain in that position as much as He wills. 
                I will thereafter be told, "Raise your head, speak and you will 
                be heard, intercede and your intercession will be accepted". The 
                Prophet  
                then said, "He will allow me a proportion whom I will enter into 
                Paradise."

                Sahih Muslim 1:180
Allah says the same thing in other verses of the Qur'an:
And there are many angels in the heavens, whose intercession 
                will avail nothing except after Allah has given leave for whom 
                He wills and is pleased with. - Surah An-Najm Ayah 26
They cannot intercede except for him with whome He is pleased

                Surah Al-Anbiya Ayah 28
4. He knows what happens to them (His creatures) in this world, 
                and what will happen to them in the Hereafter
Allah gives a similar View in another verse of the Qur'an:
And we (angels) descend not except by the command of your 
                Lord (O Muhammad ). to Him belongs what is before us and what is behind us, 
                and what is between those two; and your Lord is never forgetful

                Surah Maryam Ayah 64

5. And they will never compass anything of His Knowledge except 
                that which He wills
asserts the fact that no one attains any part of Allah's knowledge 
              except what Allah conveys and allows. this part of the Ayah indicates 
              that no one ever acquires knowledge of Allah and in His Attributes, 
              except what He conveys to them. For instance Allah said,
But they will never compass anything of His knowledge

                Surah Ta-Ha Ayah 110
6. And he is the Most High, the Most Great
is similar to another verse in the Qur'an where Allah says:

              the Most Great, the Most High

                Surah Ar-Rad Ayah 9

PS: Explanations were taken from Ibn Kathir. http://www.muslimaccess.com/quraan/tafseer/Ayat%20Al-Kursi.htm